The Council of the Appellate Court of Montenegro today fined the Faculty of Medicine in Podgorica 3.000 euros because the forensic medical board failed to prepare and submit to the court an additional report on the cause of death of Svetislav Milošević within 60 days.
Today, the trial of defendant Igor Laković, accused of committing the criminal offense of "serious bodily harm resulting in death", was to continue in that court.
According to the verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica, Laković was sentenced to two years in prison for punching Milošević in the left side of the head on November 10, 2021, who died four days later at the Clinical Center of Montenegro.
Judge Predrag Tabaš, the rapporteur, said that the forensic medical board of the Faculty of Medicine in Podgorica did not act within 60 days, as ordered by the court order of July 8, 2025.
"The Faculty of Medicine received the order on July 28, which is determined from the return receipt found in the case files. They sent a letter to the email of the Court of Appeal, from which it follows that, since the Court of Appeal has not issued a decision on accepting the costs of the expert examination, the representative of the expert commission will not attend the scheduled trial. Based on Article 138 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the council issues a decision to punish the Faculty of Medicine with a fine in the amount of 3.000 euros, because they did not submit a written supplement to the findings within the deadline set by the court order. Within 15 days from the date of the decision becoming final, they are obliged to pay the fine, under threat of forced execution. An appeal against this decision is allowed to the Supreme Court of Montenegro within three days from the date of receipt of this decision," said Tabaš.
He added that the Faculty of Medicine conditions attendance at trials with payment of an invoice, which has no legal basis.
What is written in the law
Article 138 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that an expert witness is obliged to respond to the summons and to provide his written findings and opinion within the time limit specified in the order. The time limit specified in the order may be extended for justified reasons, at the request of the expert witness. Point two of Article 138 stipulates that: "If an expert witness who has been duly summoned fails to appear and does not justify his absence, or if he refuses to provide expert testimony, or insults the body conducting the proceedings or other participants in the proceedings, or if he fails to provide his findings and opinion within the time limit specified in the order, he may be fined up to 1.000 euros, and an expert institution or other legal entity up to 5.000 euros. In the event of unjustified absence, the expert witness may be brought forcibly.
The trial is scheduled to continue on November 19.
In July, the forensic medical board's findings were read out at the trial, but even after that, it still remained unclear to the court what had the decisive influence on Milošević's death; whether from a punch to the head or from his personal characteristic of blood vessels that were thin and looked like spider webs.
The forensic medical board gave an opinion, which was read out at that trial.
“Death was violent and occurred due to the failure of vital functions as a direct consequence of blood pouring into the cranial cavity (under the pia mater), from the rupture of the posterior right cerebral artery and the resulting swelling of the brain, all of which occurred as a result of a blow with a blunt, heavy, mechanical tool (possibly a fist) to the area of the left eye socket,” the opinion states. Dr. Nemanja Radojević said at the trial in December 2024 that blood poured out from the space from the rupture of the right posterior side of the cerebral artery, which led to death, and that this occurred due to the personal characteristics of the injured party. “Specifically, the personal characteristics of the organism were reflected in the fact that the arteries of the brain were innately thin. Some like spider webs, and that tearing some of the arteries required incomparably less force than would be necessary if such an injury had occurred in a healthy person,” Radojević stated at the time.
On July 8, the court ordered that additional expert testimony be conducted regarding the personal nature of Svetislav Milošević's blood vessels.
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